# albedo
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin albēdō (“whiteness”).

### Pronunciation

* (US) IPA: /ælˈbi.doʊ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: al‧be‧do

### Noun

albedo (countable and uncountable, plural albedos or albedoes)
* (physics, meteorology, astronomy, optics) The fraction of incident light or radiation reflected by a surface or body, commonly expressed as a percentage.
** 2022 August 10, Gareth Dennis, “How can we run trains when the heat is on?”, in RAIL, number 963, page 45:For track, painting rails white at weak points that are more prone to buckling (where the 'critical rail temperature' is close to the 'stress free temperature' [...]) increases their albedo and can help slow how quickly they heat up, reducing their temperature by perhaps five degrees or so.
* (botany) The whitish inner portion of the rind of citrus fruits that is a source of pectin, commonly referred to as the pith.
* (alchemy) One of the four major stages of the magnum opus, involving purification of the prima materia.
    Synonym: leucosis
    Coordinate terms: nigredo, citrinitas, rubedo

#### Usage notes

Albedo is to be distinguished from reflectivity, which refers to one specific wavelength (monochromatic radiation).

#### Derived terms

* albedo feature
* albedometer
* ice-albedo feedback
* terrestrial albedo

#### Translations
### References

* “albedo”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

### Anagrams

* Baldeo, beload, doable

## Esperanto
### Etymology

Derived from Latin albēdō (“whiteness”).

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)
* IPA: [alˈbedo]
* Rhymes: -edo
* Hyphenation: al‧be‧do

### Noun

albedo (accusative singular albedon, plural albedoj, accusative plural albedojn)
* (physics) albedo

## Finnish
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin albēdō.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɑlbedo/, [ˈɑ̝lbe̞do̞]
* Rhymes: -ɑlbedo
* Hyphenation: al‧be‧do

### Noun

albedo
* albedo

#### Declension

Possessive forms of albedo (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation) :
first-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
albedoni
albedoni
accusative
nom.
albedoni
albedoni
gen.
albedoni
genitive
albedoni
albedojeni
partitive
albedoani
albedojani
inessive
albedossani
albedoissani
elative
albedostani
albedoistani
illative
albedooni
albedoihini
adessive
albedollani
albedoillani
ablative
albedoltani
albedoiltani
allative
albedolleni
albedoilleni
essive
albedonani
albedoinani
translative
albedokseni
albedoikseni
abessive
albedottani
albedoittani
instructive
comitative
—albedoineni
second-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
albedosi
albedosi
accusative
nom.
albedosi
albedosi
gen.
albedosi
genitive
albedosi
albedojesi
partitive
albedoasi
albedojasi
inessive
albedossasi
albedoissasi
elative
albedostasi
albedoistasi
illative
albedoosi
albedoihisi
adessive
albedollasi
albedoillasi
ablative
albedoltasi
albedoiltasi
allative
albedollesi
albedoillesi
essive
albedonasi
albedoinasi
translative
albedoksesi
albedoiksesi
abessive
albedottasi
albedoittasi
instructive
comitative
—albedoinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
albedomme
albedomme
accusative
nom.
albedomme
albedomme
gen.
albedomme
genitive
albedomme
albedojemme
partitive
albedoamme
albedojamme
inessive
albedossamme
albedoissamme
elative
albedostamme
albedoistamme
illative
albedoomme
albedoihimme
adessive
albedollamme
albedoillamme
ablative
albedoltamme
albedoiltamme
allative
albedollemme
albedoillemme
essive
albedonamme
albedoinamme
translative
albedoksemme
albedoiksemme
abessive
albedottamme
albedoittamme
instructive
comitative
—albedoinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
albedonne
albedonne
accusative
nom.
albedonne
albedonne
gen.
albedonne
genitive
albedonne
albedojenne
partitive
albedoanne
albedojanne
inessive
albedossanne
albedoissanne
elative
albedostanne
albedoistanne
illative
albedoonne
albedoihinne
adessive
albedollanne
albedoillanne
ablative
albedoltanne
albedoiltanne
allative
albedollenne
albedoillenne
essive
albedonanne
albedoinanne
translative
albedoksenne
albedoiksenne
abessive
albedottanne
albedoittanne
instructive
comitative
—albedoinenne
third-person possessor
singular
plural
nominative
albedonsa
albedonsa
accusative
nom.
albedonsa
albedonsa
gen.
albedonsa
genitive
albedonsa
albedojensa
partitive
albedoaan albedoansa
albedojaan albedojansa
inessive
albedossaan albedossansa
albedoissaan albedoissansa
elative
albedostaan albedostansa
albedoistaan albedoistansa
illative
albedoonsa
albedoihinsa
adessive
albedollaan albedollansa
albedoillaan albedoillansa
ablative
albedoltaan albedoltansa
albedoiltaan albedoiltansa
allative
albedolleen albedollensa
albedoilleen albedoillensa
essive
albedonaan albedonansa
albedoinaan albedoinansa
translative
albedokseen albedoksensa
albedoikseen albedoiksensa
abessive
albedottaan albedottansa
albedoittaan albedoittansa
instructive
comitative
—albedoineen albedoinensa :

### Further reading

* “albedo”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

## Italian
### Alternative forms

* albedine

### Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin albēdō.

### Noun

albedo f (invariable)
* albedo (all senses)

### Further reading

* albedo in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

## Latin
### Etymology

From alb(us) (“white”) +‎ -ēdō (abstract noun suffix).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /alˈbeː.doː/, [äɫ̪ˈbeːd̪oː]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /alˈbe.do/, [älˈbɛːd̪o]

### Noun

albēdō f (genitive albēdinis); third declension (Late Latin)
* white (color)
* whiteness
    Synonyms: albitūdō, albor, album

#### Declension

Third-declension noun.

#### Related terms

* albāmentum
* albārius
* albātus
* albeō
* albescō
* albicascō
* albicēris
* albicō
* albicolor
* albicomus
* albidulus
* albidus
* albineus
* albitūdō
* albō
* albogalērus
* albogilvus
* albor
* albūgō
* albulus
* albūmen
* alburnum
* alburnus
* albus

#### Descendants

* Italian: albedine
* Spanish: albédine
* → Catalan: albedo
* → English: albedo
** → Japanese: アルベド (arubedo)
* Esperanto: albedo
* → French: albédo
** → Romanian: albedo
* → German: Albedo
* → Italian: albedo
* → Polish: albedo
* → Portuguese: albedo
* → Russian: альбе́до (alʹbédo)
* → Spanish: albedo

### References

* “albedo”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* albedo in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

## Polish
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin albēdō. First attested in 1908.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /alˈbɛ.dɔ/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛdɔ
* Syllabification: al‧be‧do

### Noun

albedo n (indeclinable)
* (physics, meteorology, astronomy, optics) albedo (fraction of incident light or radiation reflected by a surface or body)
    niskie/małe albedo ― a low albedo
    wysokie albedo ― a high albedo
    ziemskie albedo/albedo Ziemi ― the albedo of the Earth
    albedo wynosi ileś ― an albedo reaches/is/amounts
    albedo neutronów ― the albedo of neutrons
    albedo powierzchni ― the albedo of a surface
    albedo planety ― the albedo of a planet
    albedo śniegu ― the albedo of a snow
    wartość albedo ― the value of an albedo
    wielkości albedo ― the magnitude of an albedo
* (botany) albedo (part of citrus fruit rind)

#### Derived terms

* albedometr

### References

* ↑ Mirosław Bańko, Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021) “albedo”, in Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych, →ISBN
* ↑ Witold Doroszewski, editor (1958–1969), “albedo”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), Warszawa: PWN
* ↑ Zasady fizyki: Fizyka ogólna, dynamiczne własności materyi, akustyka‎ (in Polish), volume 1, 1908, page x
* ↑ albedo in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

### Further reading

* albedo in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin albēdō.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /awˈbe.du/ [aʊ̯ˈbe.du]
* (Brazil) IPA: /awˈbe.du/ [aʊ̯ˈbe.du]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /awˈbe.do/ [aʊ̯ˈbe.do]
* (Portugal) IPA: /alˈbe.du/ [aɫˈβe.ðu]
* Rhymes: -edu
* Hyphenation: al‧be‧do

### Noun

albedo m (usually uncountable, plural albedos)
* (physics, meteorology, astronomy, optics) albedo (the fraction of incident light or radiation reflected by a surface or body)

### Further reading

* “albedo”, in iDicionário Aulete (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
* “albedo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025
* “albedo”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
* “albedo”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French albédo.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /alˈbe.do/

### Noun

albedo n (uncountable)
* albedo

#### Declension
### Further reading

* albedo in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin albēdō.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /alˈbedo/ [alˈβ̞e.ð̞o]
* Rhymes: -edo
* Syllabification: al‧be‧do

### Noun

albedo m (plural albedos)
* (physics, meteorology, astronomy) albedo (the fraction of incident light or radiation reflected by a surface or body)

### Further reading

* “albedo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10